What Could Have Been And What Never Was
by jessicalynnrand
Summary: One shot. Short-ish. At the bar. A dialogue that I really wish took place. "I miss you." Kurtofsky-ish, kind of. I don't know. Rated K  because for once, I didn't use bad words!


Kurt sat alone at the bar. Why was he here anyways? Because he wanted to impress Blaine? Well, Blaine was off with that insanely attractive Sebastian, and Kurt was sitting alone. He totally shouldn't have come here, not when he knew Sebastian was going to be there as well.

He turned and faced away from the dance floor and faced the bartender, who was staring at him with an evil looking grin on his face that strangely resembled a hungry lion. Kurt blinked down and looked away from the man. He felt really uncomfortable. He wanted to leave, but that certainly wouldn't impress Blaine. No, he was stuck.

To his left, he felt the closeness of a body as someone took a seat next to him and ordered a beverage that had a name which sounded more like a movie title than anything else. But when Kurt heard the voice, his ears perked up. His eyes widened a bit as he cocked his head to the side a bit and confirmed his suspicions of who had taken the seat next to him: Dave Karofsky.

Dave was still looking forward, and therefore couldn't see Kurt staring at him, which he was definitely doing. He took in the appearance of a boy he had known months ago – he was wearing a flannel t-shirt and a baseball cap, an outfit that was quite different than his usual jeans and jersey. However, the thing that looked the most different about him was his smile, and the fact that there actually was a real smile on his face. He looked happy, and that was more than Kurt had ever seen from him.

"Dave…" Kurt whispered. At the sound of the voice, Dave turned his head and the smile vanished. His eyes softened and his mouth was slightly gaping as he realized just who he had sat down next to.

"Kurt," Dave whispered back. Kurt brushed his feelings off and tried to give a small smile. He asked how Dave was. Dave answered. _Fine_. Dave asked how Kurt was. Kurt answered. _Fine_. It was just small talk in a way, about how Dave liked his school, and about how Kurt liked Blaine, and how Blaine liked Dalton. It was crazy how they could strike up a conversation so easily as if they had been friends for years and meeting at this bar was something they casually did everything Friday night, but the world knew this wasn't the case. There was a whole set of emotions and answered questions and unsolved problems that were both clouding the minds of both of the boys.

Dave looked down at the beer in his hand and Kurt's eyes followed. His hand was shaking around the bottle and Kurt's heart was beating faster than the beat of the current song.

"Kurt," Dave stated, the sound of determination in his voice, as if he knew that he had to something, but he just didn't know what it was or how in the world he was going to get the words out. Kurt took in a breath. Things were complicated enough between him and Blaine right now. Whatever Dave had to say, couldn't it wait until another time? But what was he thinking. When was the next time he and Dave were going to be in the same place?

Dave opened and closed his mouth multiple times. Kurt took advantage of the silence by looking over his shoulder at Blaine, who was now uncomfortably close to Sebastian. Their pants were touching as they danced with each other as if they were the only two people in the world.

"I miss you," Dave blurted out, completely catching Kurt off guard. Kurt looked back at Dave's face. He didn't see sadness or loneliness or anything as horrible as that. He saw just what he should – the face of a boy who missed his first crush. Dave could've used any word in the entire world to describe his feelings for Kurt, and 'miss' was the one he had chosen.

Kurt gave a half smile and appeared as if he was pondering this statement. Kurt looked back down at his bottle, but Kurt noticed that his hand was no longer shaking around it.

"Dave," Kurt said. Dave looked up at him. "Are you happy now?"

Dave sighed. "Kurt, honestly, I think I may be. I know that I screwed up in the past, but… I feel like I'm finally able to move on – to accept myself and to let others do the same, so yeah. I think I am."

Something inside of Kurt shifted a bit inside of his heart, creating a space for this man. He knew that he and Dave would never be able to be involved romantically. They had too much of a past for that and they both knew it, but perhaps they could be friends.

"I miss you, too," Kurt said, and when he did, it seemed as though every wrinkle of pain was instantaneously wiped from Dave's face. He smiled and looked rejuvenated, as if he couldn't believe it. Kurt smiled back.

At least one problem had been solved today.


End file.
